The Devil (Cuphead)
The Devil is the main antagonist of the 2017 run-and-gun video game Cuphead. He is the diabolical ruler of Hell who forces the game's protagonists Cuphead and Mugman to collect Soul Contracts from various inhabitants of Inkwell Isles, or he will take their souls should they fail. Biography After they disobey Elder Kettle and they end up in the Devil's Casino, Cuphead and Mugman were on a winning streak while playing at the Craps table. Suddenly, the Devil approach them and, impressed by their streak, he offered the pair all the loot in the casino if they win the next roll. However, if they lose, he would take their souls. Cuphead, blinded by greed, threw the dice before Mugman could stop him and came up snake-eyes. Having lost, the brothers begged the Devil not to take their souls and if there was anything else they could give him in exchange. The Devil told them if they can gather the Soul Contracts from his other debtors before midnight, he would pardon their souls and booted them out of his casino. He then sent out his right-hand man King Dice to make sure the pair fulfill their end of the bargain. It soon becomes evident that the Devil has control over parts of Inkwell Isles and that all of the debtors he has presumably made deals with have become aggressive and violent monsters that Cuphead and Mugman will be forced to fight. Eventually, the brothers obtain all the contracts and confront the Devil in his throne room. The Devil congratulated the pair and tells them to give him all the contracts plus offers in joining him to wreak some havoc. Battle During his intro, the Devil shows a scene of a cup being destroyed by a cleaver in his eyes, much to Cuphead's dismay. Phase 1 During his first phase, the Devil's attacks include using his trident to send fire around the stage and using an animal-based attack. Snake means the Devil's head will snake onto the stage. Spider involves the Devil pulling off his own head which then slams onto the stage like a Thwomp from the Super Mario series. Ram involves him trying to crush the player between his hands. This has to be dodged by a well-timed jump. Phase 2 After taking enough damage, the Devil flees underground leaving behind his skin. Cuphead follows him into the hole, intent on defeating the fiend. After he lands, Cuphead finds that he is in danger, as his opponent has grown huge enough to crush him to a pulp. The Devil's second phase involves five platforms the player has to jump around in between. Occasionally, a Poker Chip will fall from the ceiling, crushing anyone on a platform it chooses. These Poker Chips start their assault on one side, then move to the other. Touching them deals a little bit of damage. All the while, the Devil can turn his head to unleash a bat bomb which will explode if not parried. These bombs deal extreme damage to anyone caught in their explosion. Another attack involves the Devil summoning an axe from his eyes. These axes will spiral around the stage, dealing decent damage to anyone in their path. Phase 3 During this phase, the Devil will become agitated. His new attacks involve summoning fat demons to aid him and creating small blue imps. The fat demons will shoot a skull out of their mouth (which deals a bit of damage) while the small blue imps spin their body to slice Cuphead into bits. Cuphead can use his parry to destroy the pink skulls, which deal less damage to their target. After his eyes take enough damage, the Devil will cry in pain. This renders him helpless, so Cuphead merely needs to shoot the Devil a bit more to defeat him, but he must be fast, since the Devil will recover after a while. Once his stamina is drained, the Devil is defeated. Endings Bad Ending In the Bad Ending, Cuphead and Mugman accept the Devil's offer. The Devil, delighted with their choice, turns the pair into Demons and watches happily as they both maniacally laugh. Along with the phrase "Your mine now! And we are gonna have a hell of a time down here...!!". It is unknown what has happened to the Debtors, or even King Dice afterwards. The credits roll, with a much more somber tune, nailing down the seemingly stupid decision the player made. Good Ending In the Good Ending, Cuphead and Mugman refuse the Devil's offer, enraging him and prompting him to fight the brothers. In the end, the Devil is defeated and all the Soul Contracts are destroyed by Cuphead and Mugman, thus freeing Inkwell Isles and its inhabitants from his clutches. Appearance The Devil has black fuzzy skin, yellow eyes with red pupils, two horns on his head, gray hands and feet, a long pointy tail, and large ears. He also appears to be tall and huge, and is often smiling. Personality Much like many depictions of Satan, the Devil is a cruel, arrogant, blasphemous and malevolent being who grants deals to anyone who asks in exchange for their soul and servitude. He can be a clever and manipulative trickster as well, turning Cuphead and Mugman into his slaves despite agreeing to spare them if they hand over all of the soul contracts. He also lacks empathy towards everyone, including his own minions, as evident by him calling King Dice a "good-for-nothing lackey" after he has been beaten for good. The Devil's main trait is that he is incredibly prideful and egotistical of himself, believing that he will always win in the end as he brushes King Dice off when he tries to warn him about the brothers becoming stronger. Trivia *The Devil takes his battle theme from a chaotic remix of various boss battle themes in the game. This remix is called Admission Into Perdition. **During the second phase, this is replaced by the more chaotic One Hell Of A Time. Both themes probably mean that Cuphead and Mugman are fighting not only for their own lives, but those of the other debtors. *Out of all of the bosses, the Devil is probably the only one who is truly evil. All the other bosses have clear motivations (such as either reluctantly making deals with the Devil or working for him, at least when King Dice is concerned) and redeemable qualities. The Devil, on the other hand, possesses very little of these traits. 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